Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Getting ready for the atlitude!

We will be hitting the main Whitney trail in August but want to spend one or two nights before camping out and thinning our blood. We live and hike at sea level so we need to get some atlitude before we start out! Other than traveling all the way to Mammouth....does anyone have any suggestions on where we can spend a couple of nights???

Horseshoe Meadows is a few miles south of Whitney. You can drive a paved road to the campgrounds at 10,000 feet. Good luck!

If you're in the LA prior to your departure, try and hit up San Gorgonio and the surrounding peaks (all over 10,000 feet).

I agree with Horseshoe meadow. There are a couple of nice peaks that can be day hiked to stretch your legs, Trail Peak, and Mt. Muah, or even just climbing to Cottonwood pass, or the Cottonwood Lakes.

If you are camping out at Whitney Portal campground in association with your hike, you can hike up to Lone Pine Lake and spend some time in the Meysan Lake Canyon. Both are nice diversions, and the Whitney Portal area is fun to hang around anyway for 2 nights/ 1 day before you head up the trail.

Onion Valley is another option. 9,200' campground with a lot of hiking trail in the area.

Onion Valley is another nice area, but I've found the campground difficult to get a place in. That is one advantage of the Horseshoe Meadow area, two campgrounds that are all walk-in, first come, with plenty of overflow space.

Onion Valley is a great place to "tune up" for Whitney. It's higher and quieter than the Portal campgrounds and has lots of trails to "go high, sleep low". August is still wide open, if you go onllne and book now . Here is the link:
http://www.reserveusa.com/jsp/commonpage.jsp?goto=/nrrs/ca/onio/newindex.html
Good luck!

Ken,

I like Horseshoe better because I don't like hard acclimatization hikes before Whitney. I also like the set up at Horseshoe better. I've never had a problem getting a campsite at either of the trailheads.

I was just pointing out the easy options for the area.

in the White mountains - White Mountain is a good test for acclimitization and a fair 14 mile hike and you still get a 14ker - worth the drive

I guess I am in the minority here.I feel that there is limited benefit to staying at altitude for one-three days before the hike.Real adaptation takes three weeks.There is some adaptation through hyperventilation which involve chemical changes in the blood.Lowering of the CO2 therefore the carbonic acid,shifting the blood ph towards basic,which shifts the oxyhemoglobin dissociation curve allwing more oxygen to be carried on your RBC's.People climbing above 8000 meters always stay at altitude for three weeks plus before an assent.
I have hiked Whitney with and without staying at altitude.I don't think there is much of a difference.RR

Are these hikes mentioned from Horseshoe Meadows and Onion Valley "permit-free" zones? They all seem to be on trails that eventually end up at Whitney.

<a href="http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=002101"Here's another discussion of this topic</a>

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RR: You wrote "Real adaptation takes three weeks", but I think, if you read the replies to your messages of 10 months ago <a href="http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=002101">(the link Richard provided)</a>, you should say "FULL adaptation takes three weeks." And points made about climbing 8000 meter peaks don't apply well to Mt. Whitney at around 4400 meters. If you have climbed Whitney successfully without staying at altitude and felt no affects, then you are one of the lucky 25% minority whose body adapts better to the altitude.

I, on the other hand, have absolutely no appetite -- can't generate enough saliva to chew and swallow even a peanut -- when I go above 12000 feet, and it takes about three days before my appetite kicks back in.

BK: Those hikes are meant as dayhikes, which require no permits. And you can car-camp at both locations.

<a href="http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~stevec/" target=_new>Steve C</a>

BK, the day hikes out of both Horseshoe and Onion require no permits.

Robert, your assertion that there is no effect of several days at altitude is not factual. You mention the folks that spend three weeks for 8k peaks. Actually, it is closer to 3 months. However, that is not the time for acclimatization.....to 14,000 feet, but to 24,000 feet!

The oft quoted rule, and probably reasonable one, that you should sleep 1000 ft. higher/nite as a max, over 10k, gives a clue.

You can easily do the calculation, looking at where one is going, and what is required.

However, that does not make the point of individual variation. You might well be compared to my friend, Mike Gauthier. Mike has been struck by lightning 4 times. Do you imagine that he advocates to people that being struck by lightning is safe, and something that people should not worry about, based upon his experience?? Should your experience, which flies in the face of many professional's experience, many research projects on the subject, and many, many people's experience, be the basis of advice to the average person??

No. Just as Mike hypothetically advising people not to worry about lightning, advising people not to worry about altitude illness is poor advice.

I'll toss in another comment about climbing in the Himalaya: after having spent at least 4 weeks at successively higher camps, and prior to the final push to the summit, most climbers retreat to around 4000m (for example, an Everest climber would head to Pheriche, 4280m) for several days of recuperation.

I know that a lot of people will argue with this point, but I've found (no scientific evidence to prove it) that if I can spend time at altitude several weekends in advance of a trip above 4000m, I have an easier time during the climb.

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This is of only peripheral interest, but I thought I would post it anyway.

As part of a class in introductory mountaineering, I used to give a lecture on training and acclimatization. I listed different responses the human body undergoes, based on the knowledge at the time, with effects that occur almost immediately to long-term evolutionary consequences.

Just remember that this was made close to 30 years ago, and so I would make changes today. Also, much of it is adaptation rather than acclimatization.

Arranged in order of short term to long, with the first few occurring very quickly and the rest taking a while:

1. Respiration and heart rate increase in response to visual clues
2. Respiration and heart rate increase in response to physical exercise
3. Second wind
4. Increased ventilation due to altitude exposure
5. Increased heart rate due to altitude exposure (temporary)
6. More efficient muscular performance
7. Increased cardiac mass
8. Increased cardiac stroke volume
9. More red blood cells (10 – 80%)
10. More hemoglobin per red blood cell (20 – 40%)
11. Increased ease of oxygen release from hemoglobin
12. Increased diffusion of oxygen to tissues
13. Faster utilization of oxygen (different biochemical pathways)
14. Increased lung volume (10 – 30%)
15. Increased lung surface area
16. Increased lung capillary volume (10 – 40%)
17. Evolutionary effects

No 1 is sort of tongue-in-cheek but I wanted to make a point. (We am going to climb that!?!) For no. 17, think in terms of the dwellers who are able to live comfortably at 17,000’ in the Andes or Tibet.

Again, this list is 30 years old and in need of updating. Personally, I have neither the time nor interest, but I think it would be a worthwhile thing for someone to do.

Thanks to all who have contributed to this discussion.

There is a lot of valuable and accurate information and some opinion in this thread. It's too bad casual readers do not have the luxury of knowing how to decipher one from the other. If they knew each poster's experiences and general physical attributes they would be in a better position to judge for themselves whether information applies to them.

It's always good to see Bob R's sage wisdom interjected into these types of discussions.

All I am suggesting is when giving this kind of information, consider how your comments might be interpreted by the novice. After all, there are a lot of them reading this message board and do not know how much value to place on the information.

Apologies for being preachy, it's not my vocation.

For those who are interested in seeing some of the serious research into this topic, follow the link that I posted above. Ken cited a bunch of studies that you'll see if you scroll down through it.

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As a response to spending a few days at altitude not having any effect, I can only fall back on my last year's experience, coming up the back side to Whitney from Horseshoe Meadows- a 5 day trip. Even though we had full packs, by the time we got to Trail Crest, and stashed them there- only 4 days later- we were able to do that last 2 miles without being winded in the least. During that last 2 miles we joked, laughed, and had a conversation with all who we met- at least those who would respond. It was interesting that you could easily tell apart those who had acclimated, and who had not. Those who had not taken any time at all seemed listless, had no pep, and did not talk at all. All those who we conversed with had either 1) stayed over at the Portal, 2) stayed over at one of the Trail camps, or 3) both. It seems a few days at altitude makes a big difference in attitude up there.